Frequently asked questions

When it comes to Solar we all have heard of Net-metering. Now let me explain how it works. First let us consider your normal electrical system :

Here the electricity from Grid goes to your distribution panel and ahead split to your load. Your load can be anything Light, Pump, Lift, AC and even your UPS/Inverter. Whatever electricity you consume is recorded as import on the meter.

After Installation of On-grid Solar PV Plant :

On-grid Solar plant is connected to your distribution panel. Whenever the load is turned on and the Sun is shining, Whatever the On-grid Solar plant generates is first utilised by the load. If the electricity requirement by load is high then in realtime it takes electricity from the grid along with with solar generation. Thus this system is known as Grid-Synchronised or Grid-Tied or On- d-blockgrid Solar System.

If the load’s requirement is low or nil, whatever excess generated is sent back to grid. To record this reverse flow of electricity from Solar to grid we install a Import-Export Meter, Also known as Net-meter. At the end of every month, MSEDCL take note of import & export readings. If your Import is more than Export, Then the difference units (Import - Export) is bill as per your tariff category & slab. If your Export is more than Import, Then the difference units (Export - Import) are Banked (Credited) in terms of units (kWh) and not money, which will be used whenever there is less solar generation like during monsoon period. It’s a Unit-to-Unit Compensation method. Things you must know (For MSEDCL Consumer’s Only): 1. Grid Support Charges A. For Low Tension (LT) Consumers : If 100 units are banked then in return you only get 87.5 units. (12.5% is Grid Support Charge) B. For High Tension (HT) Consumers : If 100 units are banked then in return you only get 92.5 units. (7.5% is Grid Support Charge) 2. Time of Day Offset (Only for Commercial, Industrial consumers, NOT for Residential) : Whatever you’ll consume from 1800HRS-2200HRS (i.e Evening 6 pm to 10 pm) will not at all get offset by the excess banked generation and you’ll have to pay for consumption at that time. 3. Banking units reset on 31st of March. On monthly basis, There is unit-to-unit compensation. But at end of each financial year (i.e 31st March) whatever units are banked will be reset to zero and you’ll get amount of the unit’s bank multiply by APPC (Average Power Purchase Cost i.e approx. INR 2-3 per unit) credited in April’s bill. It is advisable to not have excess units on 31st March since the return is economically not viable and hence setting up large plant than required and giving excess electricity is not a good option.

Measurement unit for Solar Plant Capacity is “Kilowatt Peak” (kWp). As per know-how and simulation for state of Maharashtra,

On Daily average basis :

1 kWp of Solar Plant will generates 4 units (Units = Kilowatt Hour = kWh) per day on annual average basis. That means during cloudy conditions it will generate 2-3 units per day and during sunny conditions it will generate 5-6 units thus averaging 4 units per day.

On Monthly average basis :

1 kWp of Solar Plant will generate approx. 120 units per month on annual average basis.

Yearly basis :

1 kWp of Solar Plant will generated approx. 1400-1600 units.

The above are the optimum values considering panels are inclined exactly south facing at 14-18 Degrees.

Let’s say your average monthly consumption is 1200 units (kWh) then your Solar Plant capacity will be 1200 divided by 120 = 10kWp.

For Commercial & Industrial tariff category (above 20kW Sanction Load), The yearly consumption should be considered by subtracting the evening 6pm - 10pm consumption since it is not offset by banked solar generation as per MSEDCL policy.

Let us assume you want to save / generate 1200 Units of Electricity.
Your electricity charges to be INR 12,000. (Assuming INR 10 per Unit)
1 kWp of On-grid Solar Plant will generated average 120 Units per months.
Required Solar Plant Capacity = 1200 Units / 120 units = 10kWp
Cost of 10kWp of Solar Plant = INR6,00,000.
Simple Payback = INR 6,00,000 divide by INR12,000 = 50 months = 4.16 Years.

The cost of the On-grid Solar Plant has huge variations on case-to-case basis such as Type of structure, Type of meter, No. of inverters, Height of the building, etc. But tentatively the ball park figures are as below :

10kWp Solar Plant - 55,000 to 65,000 per kWp.
50kWp Solar Plant - 45,000 to 55,000 per kWp
Wp Solar Plant - 40,000 to 50,000 per kWp.

For Residential the payback period is approx. 4-5 Years. (i.e 20-25% Return on Investment) For Industrial the payback period is approx. 3-4 Years (i.e 25%-33% Return on Investment) For Commercial the payback period is approx. 2-3 Years (i.e 33% to 50% Return on Investment).

Plus if you can avail 40% Accelerated Depreciation benefit then it will translated to lowering your payback period by 5-6 months more.

“Solar is the only best investment we know with such high assured returns with zero risk.”

On Day 9125 (after 25 Years) the On-grid Solar Plant should have 85% of the output as on Day 1. That is just 15% degradation.

“Quality is a promise and take it from someone who will be able to keep it longer than the road that stretches far ahead.”

You need a partner to last for at least the next 25 years to safeguard a solar investment. As a result, a company’s stability, vertical integration, O&M services, warranties and guarantees, and market presence are important characteristics to review in conjunction with the first three traits.

“Cost is more important Quality, But Quality is the best way to reduce cost”.

There are “n” number of factors which reduce the cost of the Solar Plant. We adhere to highest Standards / Guidelines with various inspection / audits at every stage to deliver the best quality product to end customer.

We do have tie-ups with financial institutions. We have all kind of financial options like Low Interest rate, Collateral Free, Flexible EMI’s depending upon your credit rating.

You’ll have to pay the fix/demand charges for whatever type of tariff category you belong.

If you are in Residential Tariff Category then you may reduce upto 100% of your electricity bill if you have suffcient space available.

If you are in Commercial / Industrial, Then whatever you consume during evening 6pm to 10pm (i.e Time of Day, TOD 1800HRS-2200HRS as seen in your electricity bill) is never ever offset by Solar and you’ll get charged for that time consumption. For rest of the time period, If you have sufficient space for installation then you can reduce the bill to zero.

For optimum payback i.e 100% utilization of Solar Generation, We recommend the optimum plant capacity should be such that it generates 90-95% of your consumption.

It is the best investment we know with such high assured returns with zero risk and after the payback the electricity generated will be free against the continuous rise in electricity cost.

Plus you are protecting and handing over a better world to future generation.

You can get unit-to-unit compensation, But there is no mechanism where you will get money paid in your bank account.

There is agreement between you and the MSEDCL for 20 Years. And there are lakhs of net- metering agreement already signed, So it’s very unlikely there MSEDCL will amend the agreements.

In that case we come and recheck the readings, There is always a MSEDCL tested check meter a.k.a Generation meter which can verify the Solar Generation and we can apply for bill correction.

No, For On-grid Solar Plant, whatever we generate is first utilized by load and excess is exported back to grid and can be later utilized whenever the load requirement is higher than solar generation. Thus grid acts as virtual battery.

No, though both the units are called as inverter, The working of battery inverter is completely different from On-grid Solar Plant Inverter.

Before installation we calculate the On-grid Solar Plant capacity required in such a way that during the summer the plant will generate excess electricity than required which will be exported back to grid (Banked / credited) which can be utilised during the monsoon / cloudy climate. Thus keeping your monsoon / cloudy season bills minimum.

Under Net-metering, You get unit-to-unit compensation as explained above. If your export is more than import, Then excess units are carried forward to next month and adjusted if consumption is more and these goes on. But on 31st of March if there are excess units in bank then MSEDCL reset’s the bank to zero and you get credit of ₹2-3 per unit on banked in April month’s bill. Thus for excess generation more than consumption the rate of return is uneconomical hence selling excess electricity to MSEDCL is not a viable option. We recommend the optimum plant capacity should be such that it generates 90-95% of your consumption.

Even though efficiency of poly/multi is less than mono. Both have exactly the same generation. That means, 1kWp of Poly/Multi-Crystalline will generate exactly the same as 1kWp of Mono Crystalline. Only the difference is that Mono-Crystalline will occupy smaller footprint than Poly-Crystalline.

The solar plant which uses batteries as storage are known as off-grid plants. They will not require grid for operation.

On-grid Solar Plant is “Power Saving” system and not a “Power Backup System”. Whenever there is grid failure the Solar Plant has to mandatorily switch-off itself as per the rules of DISCOM or else it may push the electricity back to grid and if there is maintenance work going on then the wireman can get shock. Although if you have a power backup system like UPS/ Inverter/Batteries they will work as normal and they will act as normal load.

No, It is not possible. Since the Solar Plant generation is power is volatile and your running load requires a constant power, Thus Solar Plant is always synchronised with your grid. Plus, Whenever you’re load is less the excess Solar Generation needs to be push back to grid or else it will be wasted, Thus the On-grid Solar System always needs grid for it’s working.

Typically in Industrial cases, whenever there is constant load, such as furnace or motors continuously running, We can install Solar Plant which will suffice the constant load. As per thumb rule the Solar Plant Capacity should be 1/3 (One Third) the constant load for optimal utilisation.

All type of load can work on on-grid solar since whatever excess power is required is in realtime supplied by grid.

Depending upon the dust factor, cleaning is necessary. We usually recommend to clean the Solar Panels every 15 Days for normal conditions.

Cleaning is quite easy, If it’s regular then by spraying a jet of water also work, If there are bird droppings you can mop the area. Since its toughened glass it is not that fragile. Since the complete electrical system is water-proof (IP68) at joints, Chances of shock are nil.

Due to vast experience and strong engineering design team, We have pre-designed Structures to cater all kind of roof structures except asbestos sheets.

By thumb rule we say 100 Sq Ft for 1kWp is needed

May it be Mono or Poly, Commercially Standard panel size for On-grid Solar Plants is 2m x 1m. Higher the efficiency higher will be the wattage peak of the panel but the size will remain same.

Due to MSEDCL / DISCOM restriction, We are not able to do it.

Yes, You can completely dismantle the Solar Plant and reinstall it. The cost depends upon the type of installation but it should not excess more than 10-15% of the Project Cost.

There are three financial options in which you can install a Solar Plant.

1. Upfront Investment (a.k.a CapEx Model)

Here you do the complete investment upfront, If you are tax payer then you can also get 40% accelerated benefit and this model yield the highest return on investment.

2. Loan

We have good financial partners tie-up who can provide you loan, with or without collateral depending upon your credit rating. In this case too usually you just have to pay the margin money and you’re EMI for 5 Years is usually less than your electricity savings thus you start saving immediately. You can also avail the 40% accelerated Tax Depreciation benefit for Tax Savings. This is the most to-go option.

3. Lease / OpEx (Operating Expenditure) / PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) / BooT (Build own operate Transfer)

In the above case, There are investors who own and maintain the plant and they charge you electricity at cost less than your current tariff rate. You only get upfront saving in electricity cost. This is only applicable for On-grid Solar Plant size more than 300kWp with good credit rating.